Almanacs “GOP's New Lightning Rod - RealClearPolitics” plus 4 more |
- GOP's New Lightning Rod - RealClearPolitics
- George Will column: Michelle Bachmann is GOP's new lightning rod - Green Bay Press-Gazette
- October 25: Feedback from newspaper readers - Daily Press
- From the Editor : - CricketLine.com
- The Almanac - OfficialWire
| GOP's New Lightning Rod - RealClearPolitics Posted: 25 Oct 2009 06:13 AM PDT WASHINGTON -- When Marcus Bachmann came home that Saturday evening in 2000 he checked the telephone answering machine and was mystified by the many messages congratulating his wife for something. "Michele," he said, "do you have something to tell me?" She did. The state senator from her district in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul had been in office for 17 years, had stopped being pro-life and started supporting tax increases, so that morning she had skipped washing her hair, put on jeans and a tattered sweatshirt and went to the local Republican nominating caucus to ask him a few pointed questions. There, on the spur of the moment, some similarly disgruntled conservatives suggested that she unseat the incumbent. After she made a five-minute speech "on freedom," the caucus emphatically endorsed her and she handily won the subsequent primary. After six years in the state Legislature, she ran for Congress and now, in her second term, has become such a burr under Democrats' saddles that recently The New York Times profiled her beneath a Page One headline: "GOP Has a Lightning Rod, And Her Name Is Not Palin." She is, however, a petite pistol that occasionally goes off half-cocked. For example, appearing on MSNBC's "Hardball" 18 days before last year's election, she made the mistake of taking Chris Matthews' bait and speculating about whether Barack Obama and some other Democrats have "anti-American" views. In the ensuing uproar -- fueled by people who were not comparably scandalized when George W. Bush was sulfurously vilified -- her opponent raised nearly $2 million and her lead shrank from 13 points to her winning margin of 3. Some of her supposed excesses are, however, not merely defensible, they are admirable. For example, her June 9 statement on the House floor in which she spoke of "gangster government" has been viewed on the Internet about 2 million times. She noted that, during the federal takeover of General Motors, a Democratic senator and one of her Democratic House colleagues each successfully intervened with GM to save a constituent's dealership from forced closure. One of her constituents, whose dealership had been in the family for 90 years, told her that the $15 million dealership had been rendered worthless overnight and, Bachmann said, "GM is demanding that she hand over her customer list," probably to give it to surviving GM dealerships that once were competitors. In her statement, Bachmann repeatedly called such politicization of the allocation of economic rewards "gangster government." And she repeatedly noted that the phrase was used by a respected political analyst, Michael Barone, author of The Almanac of American Politics, who coined it in connection with the mugging of GM bondholders in the politicized bankruptcy. Bachmann, like Barone, was accurate. Because Walter Mondale was saved by 3,761 Minnesota voters from losing his home state to Ronald Reagan in 1984, it is the only state to have voted Democratic in nine consecutive presidential elections. Minnesota is a blue state, but is given to idiosyncratic political flings. Minnesotans, Bachmann says, like "authentic" people of whatever political inclinations, from the cerebral Eugene McCarthy to the visceral Jesse Ventura. Bachmann, an authentic representative of the Republican base, had quite enough on her plate before politics. She and Marcus, a clinical psychologist, were raising their children -- they had four then; they have five now -- and, as foster parents, were raising some other people's children, 23 of them, a few teenagers at a time. Born in Iowa but a Minnesotan by age 12, Bachmann acquired what she calls "her family's Hubert Humphrey knee-jerk liberalism." She and her husband danced at Jimmy Carter's inauguration. Shortly thereafter, however, she was riding on a train and reading Gore Vidal's novel "Burr," which is suffused with that author's jaundiced view of America. "I set the book down on my lap, looked out the window and thought: That's not the America I know." She volunteered for Reagan in 1980. Looking toward 2012, she is not drawn merely to Sarah Palin or other darlings of social conservatives. She certainly is one of those, but she knows that economic hardship and government elephantiasis now trump other issues. When she was a teenager in Anoka, Minn., she was a nanny for a young girl named Gretchen Carlson. Today, Carlson, a Stanford honors graduate who studied at Oxford, is a host of "Fox & Friends," the morning show on -- wouldn't you know -- Fox News Channel. See how far ahead the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy plans? This content has passed through fivefilters.org. | ||
| George Will column: Michelle Bachmann is GOP's new lightning rod - Green Bay Press-Gazette Posted: 25 Oct 2009 02:03 AM PDT WASHINGTON — When Marcus Bachmann came home that Saturday evening in 2000 he checked the telephone answering machine and was mystified by the many messages congratulating his wife for something. "Michele," he said, "do you have something to tell me?" She did. The state senator from her district in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul had been in office for 17 years, had stopped being pro-life and started supporting tax increases, so that morning she had skipped washing her hair, put on jeans and a tattered sweatshirt and went to the local Republican nominating caucus to ask him a few pointed questions. There, on the spur of the moment, some similarly disgruntled conservatives suggested that she unseat the incumbent. After she made a five-minute speech "on freedom," the caucus emphatically endorsed her and she handily won the subsequent primary. After six years in the state Legislature, she ran for Congress and now, in her second term, has become such a burr under Democrats' saddles that recently The New York Times profiled her beneath a Page One headline: "GOP Has a Lightning Rod, And Her Name Is Not Palin." She is, however, a petite pistol that occasionally goes off half-cocked. For example, appearing on MSNBC's "Hardball" 18 days before last year's election, she made the mistake of taking Chris Matthews' bait and speculating about whether Barack Obama and some other Democrats have "anti-American" views. In the ensuing uproar — fueled by people who were not comparably scandalized when George W. Bush was sulfurously vilified — her opponent raised nearly $2 million and her lead shrank from 13 points to her winning margin of 3. Some of her supposed excesses are, however, not merely defensible, they are admirable. For example, her June 9 statement on the House floor in which she spoke of "gangster government" has been viewed on the Internet about 2 million times. She noted that, during the federal takeover of General Motors, a Democratic senator and one of her Democratic House colleagues each successfully intervened with GM to save a constituent's dealership from forced closure. One of her constituents, whose dealership had been in the family for 90 years, told her that the $15 million dealership had been rendered worthless overnight and, Bachmann said, "GM is demanding that she hand over her customer list," probably to give it to surviving GM dealerships that once were competitors. In her statement, Bachmann repeatedly called such politicization of the allocation of economic rewards "gangster government." And she repeatedly noted that the phrase was used by a respected political analyst, Michael Barone, author of The Almanac of American Politics, who coined it in connection with the mugging of GM bondholders in the politicized bankruptcy. Bachmann, like Barone, was accurate. Because Walter Mondale was saved by 3,761 Minnesota voters from losing his home state to Ronald Reagan in 1984, it is the only state to have voted Democratic in nine consecutive presidential elections. Minnesota is a blue state, but is given to idiosyncratic political flings. Minnesotans, Bachmann says, like "authentic" people of whatever political inclinations, from the cerebral Eugene McCarthy to the visceral Jesse Ventura. Bachmann, an authentic representative of the Republican base, had quite enough on her plate before politics. She and Marcus, a clinical psychologist, were raising their children — they had four then; they have five now — and, as foster parents, were raising some other people's children, 23 of them, a few teenagers at a time. Born in Iowa but a Minnesotan by age 12, Bachmann acquired what she calls "her family's Hubert Humphrey knee-jerk liberalism." She and her husband danced at Jimmy Carter's inauguration. Shortly thereafter, however, she was riding on a train and reading Gore Vidal's novel "Burr," which is suffused with that author's jaundiced view of America. "I set the book down on my lap, looked out the window and thought: That's not the America I know." She volunteered for Reagan in 1980. Looking toward 2012, she is not drawn merely to Sarah Palin or other darlings of social conservatives. She certainly is one of those, but she knows that economic hardship and government elephantiasis now trump other issues. When she was a teenager in Anoka, Minn., she was a nanny for a young girl named Gretchen Carlson. Today, Carlson, a Stanford honors graduate who studied at Oxford, is a host of "Fox & Friends," the morning show on — wouldn't you know — Fox News Channel. See how far ahead the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy plans? George Will writes about foreign and domestic politics and policy for the Washington Post Writers Group. E-mail: georgewill@washpost.com. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. | ||
| October 25: Feedback from newspaper readers - Daily Press Posted: 25 Oct 2009 01:27 AM PDT Feedback Holiday alert• Vicki, Hampton: You get lambasted on such a regular basis about failure to note holidays (i.e., a recent Feedback about Yorktown Day), why not reserve a box on your front page for any special/honored days? Maybe next to the Daily Press main logo could be "the spot." Including a flag for those days that are appropriate for flying flags at our homes would be a nice touch. In this way we could all be "trained" on where to look for holidays, even if a more comprehensive article might be elsewhere inside the paper (and if so, tell us where it is!).Editor: The top of the front page is pretty crowded with information already, but we often use the top right for big holidays or anniversaries (especially to say where to find a story inside). And holidays that really make a wave in the community — Christmas, Mother's Day, the Fourth of July and more — are often anchored as feature stories on our front page. As for Yorktown Day and others, we do have a daily space for those, as noted in the response to that Feedback: It's the Almanac on this page. When those break out into milestones — say the 225th anniversary of the 1781 surrender at Yorktown , but not the 228th — then community involvement spikes and so does our attention. I think Feedback about those holidays tends to be from people who are well aware of the holiday, but wish we would give it more prominence. As I said, we make those judgments based on how big a wave the holiday makes in the community. That St. Paul's• Re: Homeless series. St. Vincent DePaul was the saint of the homeless. They have 150 homeless down there every day getting a meal. Give them the due credit.Editor: We did. St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church was first in our list of some churches that help the homeless, which was not meant to be comprehensive. The ones not listed were St. Paul AME on Chestnut Avenue and St. Paul's Episcopal on 34th Street. Today's Feedback responses were written by Editor Ernie Gates. Copyright © 2009, Newport News, Va., Daily Press This content has passed through fivefilters.org. | ||
| From the Editor : - CricketLine.com Posted: 25 Oct 2009 02:31 AM PDT From the Editor :Well, allow us to be the first say how refreshing the Champions League has been in the face of humdrum Twenty20 competition aplenty. Outdoing the Indian Premier League and World T20 on the predictability front, the 12 outfits on show in India have served up some entertaining cricket worthy of the tourney's success.
Here's hoping tourney organisers worldwide learn from the condensed, every-match-counts format.
Such is the frantic nature of the ICC's Future Tours Programme, we must move swiftly along. Amidst, Australia in India, Pakistan versus New Zealand and, in time to come, India against Sri Lanka and the Windies Down Under, indulge us as we take a look at the Proteas squad for the two clashes against Zimbabwe and a couple more against England.
How wise is it bringing Ryan McLaren into a unit that sports more than enough all-rounders? Yes, the call-up of Heino Kuhn is deserved but the recalls of Loots Bosman hardly speaks volumes for consistency in selection. And don't even get us started in about the axing of Makhaya Ntini. Herschelle Gibbs, well, good riddance to his sorry self.
That'll do us for now, so it's over to you. Get bantering and we will stick your posts up as soon as possible.
Cheers,
The C365 Team This content has passed through fivefilters.org. | ||
| Posted: 25 Oct 2009 12:37 AM PDT
| The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn. The evening stars are Neptune, Jupiter and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include British historian Thomas Macaulay in 1800; Austrian composer Johann Strauss in 1825; French composer Georges Bizet in 1838; artist Pablo Picasso in 1881; explorer Richard Byrd in 1888; country comedian Minnie Pearl in 1912; actors Tony Franciosa in 1928 and Marion Ross in 1928 (age 81); basketball coach and television analyst Bob Knight in 1940 (age 69); author Anne Tyler and pop singer Helen Reddy, both in 1941 (age 68); and violinist Midori Goto in 1971 (age 38). On this date in history: In 1825, the Erie Canal, America's first man-made waterway, was opened, linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. In 1854, known to history as the Charge of the Light Brigade, 670 British cavalrymen fighting in the Crimean War attacked a heavily fortified Russian position and were wiped out. In 1881, Pablo Picasso, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, was born in Malaga, Spain. In 1929, during the Teapot Dome scandal, Albert B. Fall, who served as U.S. President Warren Harding's interior secretary, was found guilty of accepting a bribe while in office, first individual convicted of a crime committed while a presidential Cabinet member. In 1971, the United Nations admitted China as a member, ousting the Nationalist Chinese government of Taiwan. In 1983, U.S. troops, supported by six Caribbean nations, invaded the tiny, leftist-ruled island of Grenada. Nineteen Americans died in the fighting. In 1986, the International Red Cross ousted South African delegates from a Geneva meeting because of Pretoria's policy of apartheid. It was the first such ejection in the organization's 123 years. In 1993, Canadian voters rejected the Progressive Conservative party of Prime Minister Kim Campbell and gave the Liberal Party, led by Jean Chretien of Quebec, a firm majority in Parliament. In 1994, Susan Smith reported to police in Union, S.C., that her two young boys had been taken in a carjacking. Nine days later, she confessed she had rolled her car into a lake, drowning the children. In 2000, AT&T announced it would break into four separate businesses in a bid to renew investor support. In 2001, the U.S. Senate, by a 90-1 vote, approved a final package of anti-terror reforms designed to help law enforcement monitor and detain suspected terrorists. In 2002, Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and seven others were killed in the crash of a small plane near the Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport, about 180 miles northeast of Minneapolis. In 2004, at least 78 Muslim detainees suffocated or were crushed to death in southern Thailand after the police rounded up 1,300 people and packed them into trucks following a riot. Also in 2004, a top civilian at the U.S. Department of Defense called for a federal investigation into how contracts in Iraq and the Balkans were awarded to the Halliburton company, formerly run by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. In 2005, civil rights icon Rosa Parks died in Detroit at age 92. Parks, an African-American woman, gave new impetus to the rights movement when in 1955 she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., bus. Also in 2005, Iraq's draft constitution was reported approved by more than three-quarters of the voters in the Oct. 15 referendum. In 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples "must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples." In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a revised version of a vetoed bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Still calling for a $35 billion expansion, it also made illegal immigrants ineligible for the program. Also in 2007, the U.S. government issued a new wave of sanctions against Iran, focusing on the country's military, for its nuclear development activities. In 2008, the White House says the upcoming gross domestic product report was expected to show a significant rise in layoffs and unemployment. GDP is the broadest economic measure of the nation's output of goods and services. Also in 2008, Yemen authorities report 48 people dead or missing in flash flooding in the country's Hadramout region. An estimated 22,000 people have been driven from their homes.
A thought for the day: Pablo Picasso said, "I am only an entertainer who has understood his time."
This content has passed through fivefilters.org. | |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Almanacs - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
